Zamarripa confirmed that the arrests related to a cartel
dispute over the León territory or “plaza”, and that they involved at least
twelve recent crimes, including several kidnappings.

The Attorney General further stated that members of the CJNG
are likely responsible for the murder of two members of Matehuala Rangel family
in the Villa
Insurgentes neighbourhood of León.

In the presentation to the media, the official showed off
the weapons, drugs, and vehicles confiscated from within the twelve safe houses
of the two criminal groups.

These included nine weapons – including pistols and
high-powered rifles – over 1,000 cartridges, cocaine, crystal and “rock”
methedrine, marijuana, scales for weighing drugs, tactical gear, police
uniforms, and radios and cell phones. The take also included six vehicles.

Zamarripa also explained that the arrests solved an un-named
crime committed by Roberto Alvizu Montaña, aged 50, which occurred in the Buenavista neighbourhood
in León.

The detainees, which came from Chiapas, Michoacán, Chihuahua
y Durango, are being held by authorities for a wide range of crimes, including
the kidnapping of two businessmen from the southern municipalities of
Guanajuato, both of whom were murdered.

Included among the fifteen detained are the cell leaders,
two women, and one minor under 16 years of age.

Zamarripa explained that officials were highly motivated to
make arrests after five youths were executed in a single night in the city of
León. Co-operating law enforcement agencies determined the identity of the
rival groups vying for control of the plaza.

During the raids one person was shot and killed: Teodoro
Reyes López, aged 62, originally from the southern state of Chiapas.

One of the detainees, Óscar Omar Ortiz Osornio, also known
as "El Bikur", was identified by authorities as an extortionist
implicated in four kidnappings and two deaths: a merchant and a woman found in
a shallow grave near Valle
de Santiago, Guanajuato.

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Podcast: Notes From The Underground

In the podcast Notes From The Underground TE Wilson discusses historical and contemporary attitudes toward crime. Each episode features a one-on-one interview that explores a unique topic. Interviewees include authors, experts, and individuals with personal experiences of crime. These podcasts were originally broadcast through the facilities of Trent Radio in Peterborough, Canada.

Mezcalero, a Detective Sánchez novel

Bicultural and transgender, detective Ernesto Sánchez seeks a missing Canadian woman on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Moving uneasily in a world where benign tourism co-exists with extreme violence, he becomes a pawn in a shadowy power-play between corrupt police and drug cartels. Forced to make hard choices – desperate, wounded, and friendless – Sánchez takes refuge in the lawless mountains of Oaxaca. And discovers his fate.

“Wilson’s Mezcalero is a real-pager turner…While the milieu of Wilson’s novel is reminiscent of the hard-boiled tradition, his creation of P.I. Ernesto Sánchez is original, and helps Wilson push the boundaries with respect to genre. Sánchez is a hard-hitting private eye, but Wilson also depicts him as struggling with many of the issues that transgender individuals typically face; in this manner, Wilson creates both a riveting mystery and timely story about navigating life as a gender nonconforming individual.”

“Mezcalero is a remarkable read, with sustained suspense, surprise explosions of poetry and violence, and some new answers to old questions...Wilson understands something about violence and gender that I have never encountered before: that women’s violence is perhaps the most feared. Sanchez’s womanly violence in his manly body is a mystery revealed, a truth told that we suspected all along. This is a profoundly feminist book. The women in the book are the power brokers, the activators of action; even the most oppressed empleada is a container of her own complete power. Mezcalero is deftly plotted, and deploys an acrobatic narrative that is, frankly, exhilarating. Sanchez has a lot to teach us. Wilson, too.”

Janette Platana, author of A Token of My Affliction (2015 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize; 2016 English Language Trilium Book Award finalist).

“T.E. Wilson’s Mezcalerois, as a novel, a tacit consequence of the author’s real-world work as a reporter/journalist in Mexico. His work is rich in essence, and rich in detail, of how widespread organized crime and corruption permeate Mexican society. Highly recommended. This is great, well-grounded fiction.”

Dr. Edgardo Buscaglia, Senior Research Scholar in Law and Economics, Columbia University, and President of the Citizens’ Action Institute (Instituto de Acción Ciudadana).

“T.E. Wilson has crafted a terrific, terrifying and yet sensationally witty portrait of modern Mexico. Detective Sánchez is irresistible. You won’t soon forget his journey through that unpredictable jungle that is Mexico today.”